Bayern Munich were making a last-ditch attempt on Tuesday night to prevent their pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane collapsing.
The German club were due to hold a new round of talks with Tottenham, but time is running out. Kane has set a deadline of the end of this week for an agreement with Spurs and is leaning towards staying for the final year of his contract, with the German club facing a race against time to swing the saga back in their favour.
There is still no indication that Kane will extend his Spurs contract past the end of the new season, but the England captain will sign a lucrative new boot deal after switching from Nike.
Having seen a bid worth £86 million rejected by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy on Monday, Bayern planned more talks over a possible fourth bid before Spurs kick-off their Premier League season against Brentford on Sunday.
Kane will not consider leaving Tottenham once the season has started, believing it would not be fair on the club’s fans, who idolise him, head coach Ange Postecoglou or his family.
With that in mind and given Bayern’s lack of progress over the past few days, Kane is thought to be preparing himself to stay at Tottenham for this season, leaving any remaining negotiations to take place between the clubs.
Kane has been open to the prospect of joining Bayern this summer, but has also maintained an open mind about staying at Spurs, with the club willing to pay him up to £400,000-a-week and discuss post-playing career opportunities at the club.
That raises the threat of Kane leaving Tottenham on a free transfer and potentially having his pick of the club’s Premier League rivals next summer, but Levy appears to be willing to take that gamble having already turned down at least two firm bids from Bayern.
Postecoglou insisted at the weekend that he is planning for life with Kane, with Spurs announcing the signings of defender Micky van de Ven and striker Alejo Veliz.
Kane has held talks with Postecoglou this summer and the fact he has included the Australian in his list of considerations would suggest he has been encouraged by the approach of the former Celtic manager.
Tottenham’s supporters reiterated their desire for Kane to stay during the pre-season victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in which the England captain scored four goals.
And Kane has also had to carefully consider what is best for his family, with his wife Kate pregnant with their fourth child.
Other than being the subject of a summer transfer saga, Kane has also been in negotiations over a new boot deal after switching from Nike.
There has been speculation that Kane could become the face of a new boot on the market from Skechers, who are advertised by former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp.
Neither Kane’s representatives nor Skechers have commented on that rumour and the striker has played in blacked out boots during pre-season.
Kane was not part of the Tottenham squad that played Barcelona on Tuesday night in a final pre-season friendly, having netted four goals against Shakhtar.
Postecoglou decided to allow a number of players to stay behind in London to rest, including Kane, summer signing James Maddison and Cristian Romero.
Tottenham have paid an initial £34.5 million to sign Van de Ven from Wolfsburg, which could rise to £43m, with the defender signing a six-year contract.
Teenage forward Veliz has also signed a six-year deal after signing for £13m and he said: “Now I’m here, it’s like I’m touching the heavens with my hands. When I first found out about everything that was happening and that the club were interested in me, to be honest with you I couldn’t believe it. It really didn’t sink in until I actually arrived here.
“I’m coming here with a huge desire to do well. I’m totally on board and 100 per cent focused on the task in hand here. I’m really pleased and grateful to have my family here with me, they’re always with me. And I’m totally fulfilling a dream, coming here today to such a massive club, and I’ll be doing my best to grab my opportunity and hopefully everything will go as well as it possibly can.”
